Hosiery manufacture



July 13 1926. 1,592,460

E. A. HIRNER 7 HO 5 I ERY MANUFACTURE original Filed June 22, 1921WITNESSES: 11v VENTOR Emil/flifinzaz;

Patented July 13, 1926.

UNITED STATES EMIL A. HIRNER, OF ALLENTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA.

HOSIEBY MANUFACTURE.

Original application filed June 22, 1921, Serial No. 479,603. Dividedand this application filed September 11, 1924. Serial No. 737,025. g

This invention relates to the manufacture of hosier more especially toseamless hosicry and t e presentapplication is a diyision of a previousone No. 479,603 originally filed by me undendatebf June 22, 1921, andrenewed the 12th day of January, 1925.

In the manufacture of seamless hosiery as ordinarily practiced, the heelof a stocking is knit by first narrowing and then w dening upon alimited number of fashioning needles resultin in the production of apocket having at eac side, the diagonal suture characteristic of suchhosiery. A heel pocket produced in this way is square in configuration,i. e. with corners at the inner ends of the sutures, and therefore is atbest, only a rather poor approximation to the shape of the human heel.To secure a semblance of roundness in the heel, it is necessary to relyupon the shaped form used in steam-pressing the stocking, but even thenunsightly puckerin cannot be entirely eliminated in the finis edarticle. Moreover, as is well known, the sutures formed duringfashioning are non-yielding, and, by virtue of their diagonal positionin the heel pocket, tend to mar the elasticity of the stoc ing structureat a region where capacity for yielding is greatly to be desired, 1. e.between the highest portion of the instep and the back of t e heel.

The object of my invention is to overcome the various difiiculties abovepointed out and to enable roduction of a novel form of heel pocket, wich is of true spherical configuration so as to conform very accuratelyto the human heel; that is further characterized by absence of anysutures whatever within its area so that its loops are entirely freefrom tension or restraint and elastic in the same degree as otherportions of the stocking; and which is also so proportioned as to bringthe foot more nearly at right angles to the leg portion of a stockingthan possible of accom lishment with-previously employed metho s.

Other objects and attendant advantages of my invention will be readilyapparent from the detailed description which follows, while the scopethereof is circumscribed by the appended claims.

The drawing herewith represents, more or less diagrammatically, astocking conveniently illustrating m invention. Although shown asembodie in a half hose, it will be obvious as the description proceedsthat my invention may be just as readily embodied in long or ladieshose, or even in childrens stockings.

In carrying out my invention, the leg ortion of the stocking indicatedat 1, is nit in the usual manner by round and round knitting upon acircular knitting machine. Upon reaching the course represented by theline 2-3, 4-5, rotation of the machine is suspended and formation of theheel pocket commenced by oscillation upon a llmited number of theneedles. At this juncture, in stead of first narrowing and then wideningas is generally customary in forming heel pockets, I make a radicaldeparture from such usual practice by reversing this order; or in otherwords, by first widening, and then narrowing. With this end in view, theprocedure is as follows:

For the purposes of an illustrative example let it be assumed that thestocking herein shown is knit on a cylinder comprising 228 needles. Ofthese I employ half or 114 as instep needles, which, during theformation of the heel, are rendered inactive to hold the loops of thefabric alon the line 23 and also the corresponding oops-- on the farside of the stocking. The remaining needles, withthe exception of about20 atthe center of the series, I employ as fashioning needles, saidneedles being thus divided into two groups of 47 each. At the beginningof the oscillation period of the machine cycle, the fashioning needlesare rendered inactive as a body, and then, as the. knitting proceeds,are added, alternately one at a time, to opposite ends of thesubdlvision of 20 needles above referred to until the full com lement isrestored tov activity, with resu ting formation of the web 5436 andincidental formation of sutures 34 at opposite sides of the stockof eachgroup. This results in the production of a gusset 3687. At theconclusion of the narrowing operation just described, the loops of thefabric are held by the needles along the line 2, 3-7, 8, and thereuponthe needle cylinder is rotated with all the needles in action, and thefoot 10 otherwise completed in the usual manner, sutures 3-7 appearingat opposite sides of the fabric along the line of union between the heeland the instep due to the narrowing, and as angular-1y disposed segmentsof the sutures 34.

From the foregoing it will be'particularly observed that the sutures 34and 3-7 are entirely without the area of the heel pocket, in fact lyingas already pointed out, along the j unctures respectively between theankle and the heel. and the heel and the instep 'of the foot. As aconsequence the loops constituting the heel fabric are absolutely freeto adjust themselves to the advantage of affording the desiredcircumferential elasticity about the stocking, between the highest.point 2 of the instep and the back of the heel as required in conformingto the anatomy of the human foot.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. The method of producing a complete stocking heel by firstly wideningand then narrowing with incidental formation of a suture in thedirection of the fabric wales, whereby said heel is affordedcircumferential elasticity.

2. The method of producing a complete stocking heel by firstly wideningand then narrowing upon a limited portion of the fashioning needles withincidental formation of sutures in the direction of the fabric wales,whereby said heel is afforded circumferential elasticity.

3. The method of producing a complete stocking heel by firstly wideninguntil the full complement of fashioning needles are in action and thennarrowing upon only a portion of said needles with incidental formationof sutures substantially in the direction of the fabric wales wherebysaid heel is afforded circumferential elasticity.

4. The method of producing a complete stocking heel by firstly wideninguntil the full complement of fashioning needles are in action and thennarrowing upon a limited number of said needles for a few courses toform a substantially spherical heel that is characterized bycircumferential elasticity.

5. A seamless stocking characterized by a circumferentially elastic heelpocket bounded by convergent sutures substantially in the direction ofthe fabric wales.

6. A seamless stocking characterized by a circumferentially elastic heelwith fashioning sutures respectively along the line of juncture betweenthe heel and ankle, and in part along the juncture of the heel with theinstep.

7. A seamless stoclnng characterized by a circ-umferentially elasticheel with fashionh ing sutures respectively along the line of. juncturebetween the heel and ankle, and in part along the juncture of the heelwith the instep, said sutures being located en tirely beyond the normalarea of the heel pocket.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto signed my name at Allentown,Pennsylvania, this sixth day of September, 1924.

EMIL A. HIRNER.

